As The Cult House waves goodbye to 2017, the team is busy getting ready for 2018’s exciting exhibitions and events.

To celebrate the New Year, we’ve decided to take a flashback look at the New Artist Fair summer exhibition 2017, an event The Cult House has supported for 2 years.

On 8th September 2017, Lemon Art opened the private view of the 12th edition of New Artist Fair, bringing together a total of 103 exhibiting artists under the same roof. And for the very first time, the event featured an art performance by Monika Dirsyte, who distributed hugs to unsuspecting visitors.

I caught up with founders Oliver Norris & Leah Michelle to find out what their secret is to making a show like this such a success:

“After every event, we have brainstorming sessions to determine what went well and what didn't. We also ask for feedback directly from our artists, visitors and personal friends who come to our events.We've also got a great team of people who contribute enormously to making the event go smoothly, from security staff to bar tenders and a great Art Fair manager J.A Neto who also runs The Cult House. We couldn't do these shows on our own.”

​As I made my way through the maze of walls of the Old Truman Brewery, I met Anisha Samani, a former graphic designer with a passion for poetry and painting.​Her colourful pieces caught my eye, and we soon got to chatting about life, freedom of expression through art and the “beautiful contortions of the human body” in her work.

Another artist I interviewed was Justina Kochansky.Unlike some of the big canvases one might be used to at exhibitions, her beautiful tiny eggshells sparked curiosity in all visitors. A former puppeteer, her intricate, delicate work is a combination of found objects and surface techniques, a unique concept she explained: “people always have this idea that art has to be big, but I love the idea of creating small moments of beauty”.

As I made my way back towards the entrance, I met Jane Benians, a fine line artist and mental health activist with a passion for dot art. Her touching work is as she explained: “a representation of my emotions at different stages of my life”. I was particularly moved by Embracing, a piece that represents the uniqueness of all human beings in our constant quest to understand our place in the world.

​All in all, the three-day exhibition was a huge success, hitting a record-breaking number of sales. As I chatted to Oliver and Leah a few days later, my first question was to ask how they felt: “It's always the same, we're buzzing for about two weeks after the show has finished, and once we’ve taken care of all the admin side of things, we're straight back into it, planning the next one.”Speaking of which…Oliver, Leah and their team are currently working on 2018’s edition of Talented Art Fair!The exhibition will take place from 2 to 4th March at the Old Truman Brewery. Better start booking your tickets; this is a show you won’t want to miss.And don’t forget to look out other TCH events and collaborations! Coming soon:FUSION IVInternational Contemporary Art Exhibitioncelebrating the 4th Anniversary ofThe Cult House.From 24-28 of AprilAt Candid Arts Trust